Fieldwork Report on Activities at the People’s Liberation Army Security Base in Djibouti

Michael Edward Walsh Discussion

Title: "A Fieldnote on How U.S. Military Officials View the People’s Liberation Army Security Base in Djibouti"

Author: Michael Edward Walsh

Publisher: CSIS

Event: Recent Activities of People's Liberation Army Security Base in Djibouti

Synopsis: "The Chinese military on August 1 formally opened its first overseas military base in Doraleh, Djibouti. According to the Chinese government, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) base in Djibouti will be used to support peacekeeping and humanitarian missions in Africa and the Middle East. However, there are strong indications that the base will also be used to facilitate surveillance activities across the region and beyond. The Chinese base therefore raises significant operational security concerns for U.S. military officials stationed at U.S. military installations in Africa and the Middle East. Some even worry that the Chinese base “could provide a front-row seat to the staging ground for American counterterror operations in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.” Nevertheless, officials stationed at Camp Lemonnier—the U.S. naval expeditionary base in Djibouti—do not appear to view the Chinese military as a strategic threat to the U.S. military in the Horn of Africa, and see it in a more nuanced light."

Downloadable Copy: www.islandssociety.org/2017/11/18/a-fieldnote-on-how-the-american-military-views-the-chinese-military-in-djibouti/

Publication Date: 11/20/2017